The Palestinian Centre For Human Rights (PCHR): On Friday, 19 April 2019, in excessive use of force against peaceful protesters on the 55th Friday of the Great March of Return and Breaking the Siege, Israeli forces wounded 100 civilians, including 23 children, 5 women, 4 paramedics, and 4 journalists, in the eastern Gaza Strip. Two of those wounded sustained serious wounds.

According to observations by PCHR’s fieldworkers, the Israeli forces who stationed in prone positions and in military jeeps along the fence with Israel continued to use excessive force against the protesters by firing bullets and tear gas canisters at them.

As a result, dozens of the protesters were hit with bullets and teargas canisters without posing any imminent threat or danger to the life of soldiers.

During this week, Israeli forces have escalated their attacks against the medical personnel in the field, wounding 4 members of them and targeting an ambulance belonging to the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) in eastern Khan Younis with a teargas canister directly while in field and evacuating those wounded.

This indicates that there is an Israeli systematic policy to target the medical personnel and obstruct their humanitarian work that is guaranteed under the rules of the international humanitarian law.

On Friday, 19 April 2019, the incidents were as follows:

At approximately 16:00, thousands of civilians, including women, children and entire families, started swarming to the five encampments established by the Supreme National Authority of Great March of Return and Breaking the Siege adjacent to the border fence with Israel in eastern Gaza Strip cities.Hundreds of protesters, including children and women, gathered adjacent to the border fence with Israel in front of each encampment and its vicinity tens and hundreds of meters away from the fence. The protesters chanted slogans, raised flags, and in very limited incidents attempted to approach the border fence and throw stones at the Israeli forces.

Although the protesters gathered in areas open to the Israeli snipers stationed on the top of the sand berms and military watchtowers and inside and behind the military jeeps, the Israeli forces fired live and rubber bullets in addition to a barrage of tear gas canisters.

The Israeli shooting, which continued at around 19:00, resulted in the injury of 100 civilians, including 23 children, 5 women, 4 paramedics, and 4 journalists. Thirty-three of those wounded were hit with live bullets and shrapnel, 42 were directly hit with tear gas canisters and 13 were hit with rubber bullets. In addition, dozens of civilians suffered tear gas inhalation and seizures due to tear gas canisters that were fired by the Israeli forces from the military jeeps and riffles in the eastern Gaza Strip.

The following table shows the number of civilian casualties due to the Israeli forces’ suppression of the Great March of Return since its beginning on 30 March:

Note: Among those wounded, 543 are in serious condition and 137 had their lower or upper limbs amputated; 123 lower-limb amputations, 14 upper-limb amputations, and 25 children had their limbs amputated according to the Ministry of Health. The number of those wounded only include those wounded with live bullets and directly hit with tear gas canisters, as there have been thousand others who suffered tear gas inhalation and sustained bruises.

PCHR reiterates Palestinians’ right to peaceful assembly to confront Israel and its forces’ denial of the legitimate and inalienable rights of the Palestinian people, including the right to self-determination, right to return and right to end the occupation of the Palestinian territory.

PCHR stresses that the Israeli forces should stop using excessive force and respond to the legitimate demands of the demonstrators, particularly lifting the closure which is the real solution to end the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip.

PCHR reiterates the reported published in February by the UN Commission of Inquiry which emphasizes what came by PCHR and other Palestinian and international human rights organizations. The report at the time concluded that the Israeli violations may amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity.

PCHR emphasizes that continuously targeting civilians, who exercise their right to peaceful assembly or while carrying out their humanitarian duty, is a serious violation of the rules of international law, international humanitarian law, the ICC Rome Statute and Fourth Geneva Convention.

Thus, PCHR reiterates its call upon the ICC Prosecutor to open an official investigation in these crimes and to prosecute and hold accountable all those applying or involved in issuing orders within the Israeli Forces at the security and political echelons.

PCHR also emphasizes that the High Contracting Parties to the 1949 Fourth Geneva Convention should fulfill their obligation under Article 1; i.e., to respect and ensure respect for the Convention in all circumstances and their obligations under Article 146 to prosecute persons alleged to commit grave breaches of the Fourth Geneva Convention.

PCHR calls upon Switzerland, in its capacity as the Depository State for the Convention, to demand the High Contracting Parties to convene a meeting and ensure Israel’s respect for this Convention, noting that these grave breaches constitute war crimes under Article 147 of the same Convention and Protocol (I) Additional to the Geneva Conventions regarding the guarantee of Palestinian civilians’ right to protection in the occupied territories.

Israeli naval forces opened fire at Palestinian fishing boats off the coast of the southern besieged Gaza Strip, on Friday morning.

Witnesses told Ma'an that Israeli naval boats opened fire at Palestinian fishermen off the coast of Khan Younis and Rafah cities in the southern Gaza Strip several times before started to chase fishing boats.

Fishermen were forces to head back to shore.

No injuries were reported.

The Israeli army also regularly detains and opens fire on unarmed Palestinian fishermen, shepherds, and farmers along the border areas if they approach the buffer zone, as the authorities have not made clear the precise area of the designated zone.

The practice has in effect destroyed much of the agricultural and fishing sector of the blockaded coastal enclave, which has been under an Israeli air, land, and sea blockade for 10 years.

Israeli forces opened fire targeting Palestinian farmers and fishermen across the besieged Gaza Strip, on Thursday.

Witnesses told a Ma'an reporter that Israeli forces deployed in military watchtowers opened fire at farmers working in their lands in the Khuzaa town in the Khan Younis district in the southern Gaza Strip.

Meanwhile, Israeli war boats opened fire targeting Palestinian fishermen off the coast of the northern and southern Gaza Strip.

No injuries were reported.

The Israeli army also regularly detains and opens fire on unarmed Palestinian fishermen, shepherds, and farmers along the border areas if they approach the buffer zone, as the authorities have not made clear the precise area of the designated zone.

The practice has in effect destroyed much of the agricultural and fishing sector of the blockaded coastal enclave, which has been under an Israeli air, land, and sea blockade for 10 years.

Eyewitnesses told Ma’an that Israeli naval forces opened heavy fire towards Palestinian fishing boats, within the permitted fishing zone of six nautical miles, off the southern coast of Rafah.

The fishermen were forced to head back to shore in fear for their lives.

No injuries nor detentions were reported.

Meanwhile, Israeli forces also opened fire at Palestinian farmers while working in agricultural lands, east of Khan Younis, in southern Gaza.

The farmers were also forced to flee the lands in fear for their lives. However, no injuries were reported.

The Israeli army also regularly detains and opens fire on unarmed Palestinian fishermen, shepherds, and farmers along the border areas if they approach the buffer zone, as the authorities have not made clear the precise area of the designated zone.

The practice has in effect destroyed much of the agricultural and fishing sector of the blockaded coastal enclave, which has been under an Israeli air, land and sea blockade for nearly 12 years.

After he was shot, the injured boy was grabbed by Israeli soldiers who thrust him into a military vehicle and took him to a military base in Israel.

The Israeli military claimed that Issac and two other children were attempting to escape over the border fence when they were shot.

When the incident occurred, one of the teens suffered fatal injuries when he was shot.

The Israeli military reported that Issac suffered “mild injuries” after he was shot at close range by their sharpshooters, and the third boy was taken onto custody without reported injury.

But he has remained in Israeli custody since being shot, and his family has not been allowed to see him, according to local sources.

His parents were informed on Sunday that Issac had succumbed to his injuries. It is unknown whether further injuries had been inflicted upon him while in Israeli military custody due to “harsh interrogation”/torture.

Injured Palestinians detained by Israeli forces have frequently reported that Israeli forces torture them while in custody.

On the same day that Issac was killed, a 14-year old Palestinian boy was found, after his family had reported him missing for three days, in an Israeli prison.

Ramez Tamimi, 14, was kidnapped by Israeli soldiers from his village, Dir Nitham, north of the central West Bank city of Ramallah, and was eventually found in ‘Ofer’ prison, and his family was never informed.

A 23-year-old Palestinian fisherman was shot and injured by Israeli naval forces off the northern coast of the besieged Gaza Strip, on Sunday.

Locals told Ma'an that Israeli naval forces opened heavy fire at one of the Palestinian fishing boats while working three nautical miles off the northern coast, which is within the permitted fishing zone, and injured a fisherman.

Sources said that the fisherman was injured with rubber-coated steel bullets in his neck and back.

The fisherman, whose identity remained unknown, was taken to al-Shifa Hospital, west of Gaza City, to receive necessary medical treatment.

His medical condition was described as moderate.

As part of Israel's blockade of the coastal enclave, the Israeli army, citing security concerns, requires Palestinian fishermen to work within a limited "designated fishing zone," the exact limits of which are decided by the Israeli authorities and have historically fluctuated.

Palestinian fishermen, who try to make a living off the shores of the blockaded coastal enclave face daily risks, including routine harassment from Israeli naval forces, confiscation of boats and materials, detention and live fire.

Local rights organization, Al-Haq, has documented many cases of Israeli aggression toward Palestinian fishermen off the Gazan coast, calling the Israel's action against the fishermen "collective punishment" that imposes "difficult economic and social conditions."

According to the United Nations Office for Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), in 1994, a permitted fishing range of 20 nautical miles was agreed on between Israel and the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO). In practice, Israel only allowed fishing up to 12 nautical miles until 2006, when the fishing zone was reduced to six and later to three.

OCHA found that the blockade has seriously undermined the ability for Gazan fishermen to make a living at sea.

Israeli forces repeatedly opened fire, on Saturday morning, towards agricultural lands and open fields, in the southern besieged Gaza Strip.

According to local sources, Israeli forces opened fire at Palestinian farmers while working in their lands, east of Khuzaa town, in the eastern Khan Younis district, in southern Gaza.

No injuries were reported.

The Israeli army also regularly detains and opens fire on unarmed Palestinian fishermen, shepherds, and farmers along the border areas if they approach the buffer zone, as the authorities have not made clear the precise area of the designated zone.

The practice has in effect destroyed much of the agricultural and fishing sector of the blockaded coastal enclave, which has been under an Israeli air, land, and sea blockade for nearly 12 years.

Israeli naval forces opened fire at Palestinian fishermen off the coast of the northern besieged Gaza Strip, on Friday morning.

Locals reported that Israeli naval boats opened fire at Palestinian fishing boats off the coast of the northern Gaza Strip.

No injuries were reported.

The Israeli army also regularly detains and opens fire on unarmed Palestinian fishermen, shepherds, and farmers along the border areas if they approach the buffer zone, as the authorities have not made clear the precise area of the designated zone.

The practice has in effect destroyed much of the agricultural and fishing sector of the blockaded coastal enclave, which has been under an Israeli air, land, and sea blockade for 10 years.